Understand the Basics of Interviewing Someone for a Position in Hotel Reception

Edited by Hotelier, priya, Eng, Alma

Hello, and thank you for watching VisiHow. Today, we will share with you some common interview questions for a hotel receptionist position. An important thing to remember if you are interviewing for a hotel receptionist job is that many hiring managers are hiring for personality. There is some interest in skills and qualifications that do go along with the job, but most of the feedback that we've received over the years is that a hiring manager wants excited, motivated and fun people working in their reception. They want entertainers, people who will be very outgoing, kind, and able to have conversations with their guests because that is what makes the guest's experience even better.

Understand the basics of interviewing someone for a position in hotel reception.mp4-canvas1 91997.jpg

Steps

  1. 1
    One question that is usually the opening question to an interview for most positions is, "Tell me about yourself." This is kind of a catch-all question
    .
    It's a good opportunity for us to briefly review our experiences, our education, our previous work experience, our achievements, and our interests as well.
    Understand the basics of interviewing someone for a position in hotel reception.mp4-canvas63 457724.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  2. 2
    The next question is, "Why do you want to work in a hotel?" This question may take a couple of forms
    .
    For some, we may not have background in hospitality. For example, my degree is in Political Science, which has nothing to do with tourism or hotels. Therefore, an interviewer may ask, "What interests you about working in a hotel?" If we do have previous experience, they may ask, "Why did you choose this hotel?" This is a good opportunity for us to highlight what we know about their service, and what we know about what they're doing.
    Understand the basics of interviewing someone for a position in hotel reception.mp4-canvas87 956924.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  3. 3
    Next, we get into some behavioral interview questions, such as, "Tell me about a time you exceeded a customer's expectations." We can meet expectations, and we can also exceed them
    .
    Many hotels are trying to actually exceed their customers' expectations and anticipate their guests' needs. This will make the guest's stay better, and lead to increased repeat business.
    Understand the basics of interviewing someone for a position in hotel reception.mp4-canvas133 843651.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  4. 4
    The next question is, "Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult customer"
    .
    They want to know if we can handle a complaint, and how we handled a complaint. Was the customer happy in the end? Did our solution satisfy them? Can we make decisions? Are we comfortable in this type of role?
    Understand the basics of interviewing someone for a position in hotel reception.mp4-canvas164 36804.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  5. 5
    Finally, they may ask, "What makes you the best candidate for this position?" Here is where we have a good opportunity to really highlight our personality and skills
    .
    We can talk about what we like. I personally convinced previous hiring managers by saying, before I had any hotel experience at all, that, "I am a lover of travel. I like to go places. I like to visit places. I like to do all the tourist things, even in my own city. I like to help people have fun doing those things as well". There are a number of ways that we can answer this question.
    Understand the basics of interviewing someone for a position in hotel reception.mp4-canvas187 33124.jpg
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
  6. 6
    You should have some prepared answers and some scenarios perfectly in mind so that you don't hesitate when you're asked these questions
    .
    We all have hesitated before, and we do feel in some cases that this hesitation, especially with the question, "What makes you the best candidate for this position?", could have cost us a couple of jobs in past interviews. Definitely make sure that you are comfortable answering these questions. There will be more as well. You will also have an opportunity to ask your interviewer some questions, if you have any, to learn a little bit about what they're looking for and what they need as well. This does conclude today's presentation on some common interview questions for a hotel receptionist position. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please leave them in the space below.
    Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help

Video: Understand the Basics of Interviewing Someone for a Position in Hotel Reception

Questions and Answers

As a receptionist when interviewing and asked, Tell something about yourself?

As a receptionist what should they answer?

VisiHow QnA. This section is not written yet. Want to join in? Click EDIT to write this answer.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

Comments

Article Info

Categories : Hospitality Industry

Recent edits by: Eng, priya, Hotelier

Share this Article:

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 474 times.

x

Thank Our Volunteer Authors.

Would you like to give back to the community by fixing a spelling mistake? Yes | No